Russian jets buzz US navy frigate in Arctic in Cold War-style show of force

Russian aircraft have buzzed a US navy frigate in the Arctic Ocean in a Cold War-style show of force as the Kremlin steps up its campaign to claim much of the resource-rich region.

A Ka-27 submarine hunter helicopter took off from a Russian warship the following day and again flew perilously close to the American shipPhoto: GETTY

By Andrew Osborn in Moscow

6:55PM BST 20 Sep 2010

The incident comes as Russia, which has not publicly explained its pilots' actions, prepares to host a conference on the Arctic in Moscow this week at which it is expected to push its hotly-contested territorial claims.

According to the Pentagon, a Russian Il-38 submarine hunter plane armed with torpedoes and bombs flew within less than 170 feet of the USS Taylor in a hair-raising incident in the Barents Sea off Russia's northern coast just over a week ago.

The plane, which was attached to Russia's Northern Fleet, flew past the American warship a mere one hundred feet above the water and then proceeded to fly directly over the US vessel at a much greater altitude.

Reinforcing the message, a Ka-27 submarine hunter helicopter took off from a Russian warship the following day and again flew perilously close to the American ship.

The two incidents were deemed so serious that Admiral Gary Roughead, the head of the US navy, raised the matter with Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky, his Russian counterpart.

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Although both countries are well used to tracking one another's naval movements, the aggressive nature of the Russian "reconnaissance" raised eyebrows in the Pentagon and alarmed the commanders of the USS Taylor, who feared an accidental collision.

"Both sides are in discussions now to determine whether the proper protocols were followed. This is a fairly rare occurrence."

The Russian behaviour was all the more extraordinary since the USS Taylor was on its way back from the Russian port of Murmansk, where it had docked to take part in a friendly joint celebration of the two countries' cooperation during the Second World War.

The incident comes as Russia prepares to reassert its claim to a large part of the Arctic at a Moscow conference this week. Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, will give a speech in which he is expected to argue for a negotiated division of the Arctic according to international law. Moscow is claiming ownership of a large swath of the Arctic including the North Pole but faces competition from the United States, Canada, Denmark and Norway.

In 2007, Russian scientists used a mini-submarine to plant a rust-proof Russian flag beneath the North Pole to symbolise Moscow's claim to the area, while President Dmitry Medvedev has said that the Kremlin's task is to turn the Arctic into "a twenty first century resource base for Russia." Scientists have estimated the region is rich in untapped oil and gas reserves, stoking the geopolitical race for ownership. That was underlined on Monday when Russia's top polar explorer, Artur Chilingarov, vowed to launch a drifting research station to collect more evidence for Russia's claim. However, a top Russian official downplayed claims that Moscow planned to deploy troops to the Arctic to defend its interests.